Holiday Home Tour

(click on any photo to enlarge)

Hello & welcome to the 2008 Virtual Holiday Home Tour! It's hosted by Tracey @ Notes from a Cottage Industry . I am soo excited about this blog party! Last year, I didn't have a blog so I couldn't share pics of my holiday decor but I enjoyed seeing all of your's! I can't wait...this is going to be so much fun!

This arrangement is on my coffee table. It was last year, as well, although I've made a few additions this year. And I went thrifting yesterday & scored a new/old tree topper. I've already added it to the others but I didn't retake the pic.

You saw these snowbabies in my previous post. I elevated them on mercury glass candlesticks & taped them in a couple of places, for security.

Since I've taken this picture, I have FINALLY painted my birdcage stand. Seeing this pic shamed me into it. Although I'm too lazy to actually retake the picture. *grins*

This buffet is in my upstairs "den". I serve appetizers & drinks here, when entertaining.... to encourage people to hang out up there. My mother bought me the beverage jar as an early birthday present, while we were vacationing in Salado recently. We got such a good deal on it! It holds 2 gallons & was only $110. I've seen that size for over twice that much! The Mr & Mrs Santa's were my mother's...aren't they cute?

When I bought the buffet, it was in very rough shape & missing a couple of drawers. I gave it several coats of olive green paint (the stain kept bleeding through!), distressed it, glazed it & hung lace-edged napkins, in the openings for the drawers.

I'm not real pleased w/ this vignette but I'm tired of messing w/ it so this is the way it will stay. I say that knowing I will go nuts if I don't fix it. ;o)

My little aluminum tree. I hang chandelier prisms on it but they don't show up very well. I need to add some tiny vintagey ornaments to it, I think. Love the vintage beaded tree skirt!

Now you can see the prisms! Love the glass birds even if they aren't vintage.

I stole this idea from Marietta @ Sweet Old Vintage. It's a paper nativity under glass (in this case it's a cheese dome LOL) . I also got the image from her...all I had to do was print it out & spend an hour cutting them out. It's too sweet! I just love it! I am giving my mother my old nativity. It's beautiful, old, Italian & it has many pieces but this one is much more me.

I added a few, miniature brush trees for interest. I had to put a little bit of double-stick tape on the tabs of the nativity pieces, to help secure them, but the tape doesn't show.

This is an awful shot of my mantel. I had taken a previous shot & it looked great but then I decided to bleach my green brush trees. The bleach didn't have any effect on them (I tried pouring boiling water on them to soften them like someone suggested on their blog but it just melted them...good thing I have extra trees!), so I sprayed painted them white. Didn't like that so I flocked them & I still wasn't feeling them so I hit them hard w/ some glitter. Glitter is a cure-all for just about everything! ;o) Anyway, by the time the trees were done, it was a stormy day, so the lighting sucks.

I actually didn't change much from fall to Christmas on this mantel. I exchanged the birdcage for the glittered church, the pumpkins for ornaments & added the glittered trees, a few reindeer & some bead garland.

Oh! I also exchanged my slender apothecary jars for Dept 56 snowbabies & tiny glittered trees, on a bed of vintage tinsel, under another cheese dome. Say that 10 times real fast!!!!

I added a few brush trees (I didn't bother to paint & glitter these) & some old Christmas photos to the curio.

My Gizzy's stocking....made out of a vintage chenille bedspread. The chi's stockings are just like his.... only their picture is not as cute. ;o) What can I say...it ain't no secret who my favorite is!

The big crystal orbs you see at the base of the snow angel are my glass stopper collection.


It's a wonder that the shelves, in this china cabinet, haven't collapsed under the weight of all the dishes! And that's not even a small fraction, of what I have.

My Santa collection.

I hung a vintage wreath on Rose's birdcage.

This photo is a prime example of how everything looks better under glass. The tree topper, although vintage, is cheap, tacky & plastic. I put it on a bed of angel hair in an apothecary jar & it, automatically, gains importance & beauty.

I have had this mantel topper for about 10 years. Much of that time it spent in the garage, as I could never find a bottom for it & it was too lovely to paint (although I probably will someday...don't tell hubby!). Last year, I found the bombe chest, at auction, for $200. They seem to be made for each other...right down to some carving details. The topper is a hair longer than the chest, so I hung it a couple of inches over it, to fool the eye.

I've used the apothecary jars to showcase an angel collection. (I'll share more pics of it in a post tomorrow). A few pieces of red & white toile dishes, add to the Christmas flair.

Love my little chalkboard Santa Chef! I should have taken a photo from another angle so that you could see the sled, my oils & vinegars are sitting on. Christmas isn't complete w/out ribbon candy! I sometimes use it as placecards. Since I've taken this pic, I've added more jars of Christmas candy.

This is my baking table. It is actually a drop-leaf that I moved from behind the couch, to the kitchen island. When we bake, we pull out the leaf & use it to hold all our ingredients, leaving our kitchen island clear, for workspace. Wellllll, it would be clear for workspace if I didn't have to decorate so much of it. ;o) I covered the drop-leaf w/ a vintage holiday tablecloth.

The little Santa scene under the cake dome.

A couple of ornaments & some greenery stuck in the head vases & this area is Christmas'fied.

I didn't include pics of my tree as I will be sharing it tomorrow in my Trim a Tree Thursday post...I'd like to invite you to join in that party as well. Brett @ The Southern Hostess is hosting it.

I am chomping at the bit, to see all the homes all decked out for the holidays! Follow me to Tracey's!